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Overall Reflection
I have mixed feelings about heading into the last module of the IEC program. On the one hand, I'm looking forward to finishing the certificate program because it has been very challenging and demanding of my time. One the other hand, I have enjoyed everything that I have been learning. I have made connections with other inspiring educators that I hope will continue past this program. The other thing I have liked about this program is that it has forced me to make changes in my classroom and teaching practice, as opposed to just thinking about it. The assignments and timelines have required me to stop theorizing and to take action.
The Leading Edge Certificate program has gotten me more excited about Blended and Flipped Learning. I have already seen the benefits of this model with my students. With my most recent math model, I have implemented a blended learning module, and all but two of my students got a 78% or better on the final module test. I loved the fact that I could spend more time with struggling students. It made a difference for them. I also enjoyed the fact that my more advanced students were not bored and causing classroom disruptions. My goals moving forward is to provide more challenge problems, and performance task opportunities for y advanced students as opposed to them working on Zearn.org on the computers when they finished a lesson.
I'm still deciding if I want to continue and pursue my masters. It is a big time and financial investment. I am interested in eventually teaching teachers, or at least being a teacher induction program mentor for my district. A masters degree would help me reach these goals. If I decide to earn my masters, I would love to do more research on Flipped and Blended Learning at the elementary level for my thesis.
CUE Community
I am excited that I will be attending the CUE BOLD Symposium in a couple of weeks! I look forward to seeing the redesigned classrooms and the Lesson Makers Faire. One of my co-workers is going with me. I'm glad I won't be the only one from my school site. Hopefully the two of us will be able to share and influence our co-workers. I hope to meet up with other IEC participants there.
In the CUE IEC Google + community, there has been a lot of sharing of program enhancements, mainly involving Google. Many of us expressed excitement about the new web based Google Earth.
I shared information about some of the resources that I have recently purchased for my classroom, enhancements to Seesaw (you can now link Google Drive files directly!) and a blog post written by another teacher in my district about Flipgrid.
Project Status
Recently, Blogger released new, more modern looking blog templates. I decided to redesign the look of my blog, Above the Line in Elementary. I also discovered and fell in love with @AdobeSpark. I used Adobe Spark to create title images for my posts, and I am happy with the new look of my blog. I have a list of topics that I plan to write about; I just need to take the time to do it!
I added a blog post about my Google maps lesson when my students returned from spring break. I'm excited to explore the new Google Earth updates now that it is available on Chromebooks. I look forward to implementing and blogging about them.
This week, I was able to do some shopping for my classroom. We received deposits from our parent fundraising group to purchase class supplies. I have on order Ozobots, KEVA Contraptions and Building Planks, and 2 Kore WOBBLE Stools. I look forward to getting these items in the hands of my students. I plan to blog about how they are used.
I participated in the Project Checkpoint on April 11, and it was nice to get positive feedback on the progress of my blog.
Elective Status
I am enrolled in TEC-982, The Flipped Classroom, but I have not made any progress beyond reading the required text, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day. I implemented a flipped model for my most recent Math unit in my fourth-grade class and I am very encouraged by the results. This class will help me understand the model better, and I know I will be more effective implementing it as a result. This LEC course has been very busy, so I'm hoping I will have more time to devote to my elective in the next couple of weeks now that I finished the LEC.
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